Herman hollerith



(No Model.)

H. HOLLERITH.

ELEGTRO PNEUMATIC BRAKE FOR RAILROAD TRAINS.

No. 363,464. Patented ma z z, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN HOLLER-ITHQ OF NEl/V YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC BRAKE FOR RAILROAD-TRAINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,464. dated May 24, 1887.

Original application filed November 1, 1886, Serial No. 217,708. Divided and this application filed April 16, 1887. Serial No.

235,091. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN HOLLERITH, of New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Brakes for Railroad-Trains; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de scription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This inventionrelates to that class of pncumatic brakes which are applied or set by the opening of communication between the external air and amain pipe extending through the train, of which class the Westinghouse, Oarpentcr, and Eames automatic brakes, for example, are types. Ordinarily this opening of communication between the main pipe and external airis effected at but one point onlynamely, at the engine-and an appreciable amount of time is required to fully exhaust or fill the main pipe, from which it results that the brakes on the car nearest the engine are most quickly acted upon, while those on the other cars are operated upon more or less tardily, according to their degree of remoteness from the engine.

Where a train is made up of but few cars the difference in point of time in which the brakes of the several cars go on and off is of slight consequence; but where long trains are employed this difference is found to be so great as to cause the cars in the fore part of the train to be fully braked before the last cars are materially affected, thereby producing such collision and shock between the parts of the train as to do serious damage. Especially is this the case where a quick or emergency stop is attempted to be made.

In an application for Letters Patent filed by me on the 1st day of November, 1886, Serial' No. 217,708, I have shown and described a method of remedying the difficulties above alluded to, such method consisting in opening communication between the main pipe and the external air at two or more places simultaneous1y,so as to cause all the brakes throughout the train to be operated more nearly simultaneously, the instrumentalities employed being preferably a series of valves located in the main pipe at differentpoints and operated electrically by the engineer from the engine.

The improvements which I desire to cover herein relate to special devices for carrying my said improved method into practice. I will first describe them and then point out their peculiar features of novelty in the claims at the end of this specification.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a train of cars, showing the application of my invention; Fig. 2, a side view of one of the valveboxes; Fig. 3, a top view; Fig. 4, a vertical sectional view of the same; Fig. 5, a view of a modified form of valve-casing.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

A represents the main pipe of any ordinary automatic pneumatic-brake system; B, the lever by which the engineer controls the admission of pressure to or the lowering of pressure in the said main pipe, as usual.

0 is a valve-box, consisting, preferably, of a casing having at its opposite sides half couplings D D, adapted to co-operate with theordinary couplings,E E,on the air-pipe A at the ends of each car, as shown. Within this box is arranged an electro'magnct, F, having a hinged armature, G, which bears a disk, cl, of suitable material, to serve as a valve for closing a tubular valveseat, V, leading to the atmosphere. One of the terminal wires, 9, of the magnet F is electrically connected to the half-coupling D and the other wire to the-halfcoupling D, and the half-couplings are insu lated from each other in any suitable manner, such as by placing insulating material between one of them and the casing O, or by making the casing itself in two sections and applying insulation between the sections, as shown in Fig. 5 at t.

The coupliiigs E E on the cars form part of an electric circuit, T,'that extends through the train, and is preferably adapted to be broken or made by the cooperation of the engineers lever B witlLa contact, H, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be apparent that when the valvebox O is connected to the couplings E E at the ends of adjoining cars it serves both to estaband thus render the action of the brakes more uniform.

Of course the greater the number of valveboxes 0 employed the more nearly simultaneously will all the brakes be applied. In pracface it will be found necessary to employ but few of them in a comparatively long train, though, if desired, one can be coupled to the air-pipes between every two adjoining cars.

I preferably make the valve-boxes as light as is consistent with the proper degree of strength and provide them with couplings corresponding to those on the pipes of the cars with which they are to be used, thereby enabling them to be applied or removed with the greatest facility by any ordinary train-hand.

I do not of course limit myself to any particular construction of valvebox, magnets, valves, or valve seats, as these parts may be varied indefinitely in form and construction.

The electric circuit may be arranged entirely upon the train or grounded at the ends thereof, as desired, and the means for making and breaking the circuit at the engine may be entirely disconnected from the lever by which the engineer controls the pressure in the main pipe, as will be readily understood.

I do not claim herein the combination, with the main valve on the engine by means ofwhich the pressure in the main pipeis controlled by the engineer, of separate electrically-operated valves on the several cars for controlling communication between the main pipe and the atmosphere and rendered operative by the movements of a switch connected to the said engineers pressure-valve, as such subject-matter is covered by my said original application No. 217,708, of which this is a division; nor do I claim herein, broadly, the combination, with a brake system such as described, of a valve box adapted for connection with the main pipes and electric circuits otherwise than by detachable couplings operating substantially in the manner herein described,as such subject is broadly covered in another division of my original application Serial No. 2l7,708, which I am about to file.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim'as new is- 1. In a brake system such as described, the combination, with the main pipes and couplings'thereon, of a valve box or casing having couplings for co operating with the couplings of said main pipes, and containing a valve for controlling communication with the atmosphere, substantially as described.

2. In abrake system such as described, the combination, with the main pipes and couplings thereon and an electric circuit,of a valve box or casing having couplings for co-operating with the couplings on said main pipes, and containing an electro-magnet and a valve operated thereby for controlling communication with the atmosphere, substantially as described.

HERMAN H OLLERITH.

\Vitnesses:

MELVILLE CHURCH, CHAS. R. BURR. 

